by Zijin Chen
Lin nodded slowly.
Chapter 20
Zhao kept hearing bad news. Four different teams had come into his office already and the day was not even over.
First, the officers who checked the surveillance cameras said that they didn’t find any suspects. The killer was able to hide in the blind spots, and the park off of Wenyi West Road was not covered by the cameras. It wasn’t surprising, since he had also avoided being caught on camera for the other four murders. Still, it gave Zhao a sinking feeling.
Then the officers who spoke to the victim’s friends and family said they didn’t turn up anything useful. Nobody knew why Sun would be walking by the park on the night of the murder. Nobody knew that he would stop on the side of the road to relieve himself, which meant the killer must have followed the victim instead of waiting for him to appear. Yet nobody noticed anyone, meaning that the killer must have been incredibly careful. There were a handful of people who hated Sun enough to kill him, but they were struck off the suspect list after producing alibis. The police came to the conclusion that the victim did not know the killer.
The third piece of bad news was about the note. Apparently the paper, the ink, and the printer were all common brands. It was impossible to trace its original source.
And finally, the group interviewing local residents wasn’t making any progress. They spoke to people who had passed by the park that night and nobody saw anyone suspicious. Zhao told the investigators to keep looking. Someone might have seen something; it was just a question of connecting that person with the police.
The investigation had only begun a day ago, and yet they already seemed to be facing dead ends. Zhao was frustrated.
At least the investigation into the jump rope left him something to mull over.
An officer had taken the jump rope into all the toy and fitness stores in west Hangzhou and discovered that the particular brand of jump rope was discontinued two or three years before.
Zhao felt a chill go up his spine. Was it possible that the killer had planned on committing a series of murders three years ago?
He had examined the jump rope multiple times. It was clearly new, not taken out of the trash or stolen from a playground. He flipped through the photos on the previous four cases and looked carefully at each jump rope. They all looked very new but had slight differences, so the killer probably bought each one at a different store, ensuring that he didn’t become a memorable customer. It was a very cautious move.
If the jump rope was bought several years ago, it would be impossible to find out where the murder weapon was bought.
Zhao leaned all the way back in his office chair and stared at the ceiling. Every possibility led to a dead end. Would it be impossible to catch this killer, even after five homicides?
Zhao didn’t want it to be true. It looked like all they could do was register more local fingerprints in the hopes they would get a match. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Dr. Chen walked into his office carrying a file. “The Zhejiang handwriting expert examined the word that was scratched on the concrete. I have the results here.”
Zhao immediately sat up. “Well, what does it say?”
“It is impossible to determine if the word was written by Sun Hongyun.”
“Why?”
“There weren’t many examples to compare it to—Sun didn’t write much. We turned his house upside down and only found a handful of receiving notes from his freight business. We sent them to the expert, who said that even though the handwriting on the ground was very different from the handwriting on the receiving notes, he could not confirm that the word ‘local’ was not written by Sun. Not to mention that he was struggling with the attacker as he wrote. Anyone in that situation would have drastically different handwriting.”
Zhao frowned. “Well, what about the footprints in the grass?” he asked. “Can we confirm that they were made by Sun? Is it possible they were made by someone wearing Sun’s shoes?”
“The footprints are more complicated, so we’ve contacted some mechanics researchers at Zhejiang University and asked them to help us do some tests.”
“Alright, then we’ll just have to wait until we hear from the university,” Zhao said.
Chen hesitated before asking as delicately as possible, “I heard Yang mention that the teams have encountered some difficulties in this case.”
Difficulties? They didn’t have a single clue. Zhao sighed. “We could still get a breakthrough if we catch that pervert. I’ll assign some more officers to the case tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.”
Chapter 21
The sun had started to sink when Luo walked to the noodle restaurant. His steps were calm, as always.
He stopped at the door and looked inside.
Guo Yu was sitting at a table eating noodles and Huiru was cleaning off the countertop. They both noticed Luo at the door and stopped what they were doing, looking anxious.
Luo avoided their gaze and quickly surveyed the sidewalk. He finally entered, as if he chose this restaurant by chance. He didn’t sit at Guo Yu’s table, but took a seat at another free table and carefully studied the menu on the wall.
Huiru came to his side. “What can I get for you, sir?” Then in a quieter voice, “Why aren’t you sitting with him? He wants to talk to you.”
Luo was not at all worried by whatever Guo Yu had to say. He was confident that he had changed the crime scene enough to fool the police. If something really bad had happened, Guo Yu would already be in the police station and not sitting in a noodle restaurant.
“Let me see . . . how about noodles with tomato and egg? No, I’ve had that a lot lately. Just a minute, let me think . . .” Luo said, and dropped his voice to a whisper. “It would be odd for me to sit at his table. I need a reason.” Then he raised his voice again. “I’ll take that noodle dish with beef and green peppers, please.”
“OK,” Huiru said.
She passed Luo’s order to her brother, and then took a woven tray to Luo’s table. “I’m sorry, we’re going to put some rice cakes on this table so they can cool. Could you please move to that table there?”
Luo was happily moved to sit across from Guo Yu, who began to speak. Luo discreetly put his finger to his lips and whispered, “Talk while you eat.”
Guo Yu did as he was told and picked up his chopsticks, pretending to eat. “Huiru said she saw the police stopping into a lot of stores. They didn’t stop here.” He smiled, relieved.
Luo was not surprised. “It’s only the first day. They’re doing a preliminary investigation. I think they’ll make it over to Huiru and her brother in the next day or two.”
“In the next day or two? Really?”
“Don’t get worked up,” Luo said quietly. “It will be routine. The police will want to know when the man ordered takeout and when she delivered it. She won’t have any problems as long as she follows the plan.”
“Oh,” Guo Yu said, nodding nervously.
“When did she tell you this?”
“Just now, when I entered the shop.”
“You two need to be more careful,” Luo chided. “Whatever you do, don’t talk about it on the phone. That includes texts.”
“Got it.”
Huiru brought Luo’s noodles to the table.
Thinking quickly, Luo picked up the small bottle of vinegar and dumped it into his noodles. He looked up. “Excuse me, could you bring some more vinegar?”
Huiru took the hint and ran into the kitchen to get some vinegar. She refilled the bottle at his table as slowly as she could.
Luo spoke to both of them quietly. “You don’t look like you have everything under control. Remember, you and I are strangers. If you see me in future, act like it. And Huiru, you injured your leg recently; you need to act like it’s difficult to walk. Which reminds me, how many times did you wash your clothes?”
“A dozen, like you told me. They look good as new,” she said without moving her lips.
Huiru finished pouring the vinegar. “Can I have a little more, please?” Luo said. He then quickly took a paring knife out of his bag and handed it to Huiru under the table. “This is new and it’s identical to the old one,” Luo said. “Take it. Remember, if the police come by in the next few days, just answer their questions the way I taught you.”
Huiru nodded. Both she and Guo Yu had come to trust this man entirely.
Luo stood up as soon as he finished eating. Huiru didn’t want to take his money, but Luo smiled kindly. “Remember, we are strangers,” he said. Then he said in a loud voice, “Can I get change for a twenty?”
Chapter 22
The next day at 9:00 a.m., Fulai went to the market to buy fresh vegetables. Huiru was cleaning the shop and preparing for the lunchtime crowd when Song and Li, two young police officers, entered the shop.
“Hello, madam,” Song greeted her. “We’d like to ask you if you’ve seen this man before.” He showed her a picture.
Huiru was a little startled, but soon recovered. She moved closer and saw that it was Yellow Head. “Yes . . .” Huiru’s throat had gone dry and she coughed. “Yes, I have. He lives in the neighborhood. Why, what happened?”
“You didn’t hear?” Song found this odd. The noodle restaurant was less than a mile away from the park, and the other shop owners on the street all knew about the murder.
“What is it?” Huiru felt herself getting nervous. Luo had covered a lot of territory, but he wasn’t perfect. He didn’t expect that the police would ask such a simple question. Huiru tried to act natural and speak slowly, like Luo had said. Still, this was the first time Huiru had spoken to the police in her life.
Song tried to jog her memory. “You heard about the murder in the park by the river? This is the man who died. His alias is Little Gangster.”
“It was him? Oh!” Huiru shook her head, trying to sound surprised.
“Do you know him?” Song asked, looking meaningfully at Li.
“Not well; I just know that he orders food at our restaurant and doesn’t pay. He’s always causing problems for us,” Huiru said angrily.
The police officers were well aware of Xu Tianding’s penchant for ducking out on his bill. Her disdain seemed very normal. After interviewing so many of the local residents, the police had concluded that everyone was glad to see him gone. Everyone except for the Xu family, of course. All of Xu’s neighbors thought he was wicked, and the local business owners wished he would get in a car accident. But at home, Xu was just a boy. His grandmother had cried her heart out. Unfortunately very few people had tried to comfort her.
“When was the last time you saw him?” Li asked.
“The last time?” Huiru wrinkled her eyebrows in thought. “The night before last.”
“What time was that?”
“We were closing up shop, and he came over and ordered fried rice. I didn’t want to make it, and I told him we were out of rice. But he started acting mean, and my brother is afraid of him, so—”
Song interrupted her before she could finish. “You made the fried rice?”
“Uh huh.” Huiru nodded.
“Then what happened?” Song asked.
“He said he had to leave, but he asked me to deliver the rice to him at the park by the river.”
“He told you to meet him in the park?” The police looked at each other and perked up.
“Uh huh.” Huiru’s face was calm.
“How many orders of rice did he ask for?” Song asked.
“Just one.”
“And you delivered it to him?”
“I didn’t want to, but my brother has a lame leg and he can’t walk very fast. I always do the deliveries. I didn’t have a choice.”
“So what happened next?”
“He . . . he . . .” Huiru hesitated.
The two officers braced themselves; they could tell that something important was coming. “What happened?” Song asked.
Huiru spoke reluctantly. “He was drinking all by himself in a park, and he had a plastic bag with beer in one hand. After he saw me, he came . . . came towards me and told me to have a drink with him. He even . . .” She trailed off.
“What did he do?” Li asked, his tone urgent.
“Nothing.” Huiru lowered her head.
Song looked sternly at her. “Madam, we need to investigate every detail of this case. Please tell us exactly what happened.”
Huiru hesitated before stammering, “He pulled my arm and wanted me to drink, and—and he groped me.”
“How could he!” Song shook his head angrily. “And then what happened?”
“I wanted to get away from him, but he wouldn’t let me go. He kept pulling me and saying I had to drink with him. I don’t know how drunk he was. I shouted for help and he tried to cover my mouth. I finally managed to escape and run away. He stopped chasing me, but right before I reached the road, I fell and my leg started bleeding. I twisted my ankle and couldn’t walk. My friend happened to pass by, and he picked me up and carried me home on his back. It scared . . . scared me to death.” She looked truly frightened. Luo had told her to think of how she felt when she realized Yellow Head was dead when she needed to act frightened. Sure enough, it worked.
The two officers took a careful look. She was wearing jeans, so they couldn’t see her injury, but they weren’t willing to ask her to undress.
They asked a few more questions, but there weren’t any more useful clues to glean from her story. Eventually they agreed to speak to a few more business owners on this street and then report their findings to their superiors.
Chapter 23
“Do you really think she injured her leg?” Lieutenant Lin asked, scratching his chin. Investigators Song and Li had arrived to report what they learned from the girl in the noodle restaurant.
“She seemed to be favoring one leg, but she could still walk. If she is injured, it’s not bad.” Song said.
“That’s not what I’m asking,” Lin said, shaking his head. He paced back and forth. “If she fell, it’s likely that she hurt her ankle. But did she bleed a lot?”
“That’s what she said, yes.”
“Did you see the injury?”
“No, we couldn’t. She was wearing jeans.”
“Long jeans?”
“Yes. What’s wrong, Lieutenant?”
Lin nodded, turned, and paced some more. “That’s reasonable, actually,” he said, his eyebrows furrowed.
“What’s the matter?” Song and Li were at a loss.
“It’s summer. When you get a scrape in summer, the best thing to do is to leave it uncovered so it doesn’t get infected or start itching. It heals faster when it’s uncovered.”
“Are you saying that she didn’t hurt her leg, and she was just pulling the wool over our eyes? She wore long pants so that we couldn’t see her injury!” Li was an excitable young officer.
Lin thought carefully. “When you asked her what happened at the park, was she quick to tell you that Xu Tianding groped her? Or did it take her a long time to finally explain what happened?”
“At first, she just said that she delivered the rice and nothing else happened,” Song remembered. “But we pressed her, and she eventually told us what happened.”
“That’s right,” Li said. “Song over here told her that we were investigating a case and she had to tell us everything exactly as it happened. Then she finally told us.”
“That’s reasonable too,” Lin said. “She was sexually harassed, and she didn’t want anyone to know. If she was too forthcoming, I would say she was acting.”
“So does that mean that she’s not a suspect?” Song asked.
“Not necessarily,” Lin said, looking out the window. He turned back to look at the young officers. “Everything checks out, but what if she is much smarter than we
think?”
Song laughed. “I don’t think that’s possible, sir. If she’s acting, then criminals are getting too talented. We’ll never solve another case!”
“I agree with Song,” Li said. “Migrant workers aren’t that clever. If she killed him, she would want to make up a cover story and show us her injury. I can’t imagine that she would deliberately do the opposite.”
“And what about the crime scene?” Song added. “Gu told us about the folded hundred-yuan notes in the grass. He estimated that there was anywhere between ten and thirty thousand yuan on the grass. Where would a migrant worker get all that money? How could she come up with such a neat solution to destroy the crime scene? Think of the stripes cut into the victim’s skin, those thin long cuts. I don’t think a young lady would do something like that, do you?”
Lin pursed his lips and grudgingly agreed. “That’s true. But we can’t ignore her. As far as we know, she is the last person to see Xu Tianding alive. We now know that he bought all that beer with the intention of drinking it with Huiru—he wanted her to let her guard down. We now know that Xu deliberately chose the park by the river because it was secluded. Now, most of the beer cans were wiped clean, which means those fingerprints have something to do with the killer. So after she left, who did come to kill Xu Tianding, and why did they touch the beer cans?”
“But there was one can that had Xu’s fingerprints and someone else’s, right?” Song said. “If we compare those fingerprints to Zhu Huiru’s, then we can determine whether she has something more to do with the case.”
“Yes, yes, we’ll compare the fingerprints,” Lin said calmly. “But right now we can’t be sure that the fingerprints on that can belong to the killer. They could be the prints from the person who sold the beer to Xu or the prints of some delivery person. If we compare the prints now and discover that they are not a match, then we might recklessly come to the wrong conclusion. I would like to have a chat with Ms. Zhu myself. Please find that clip in the surveillance tapes so I can see what she looked like on the night of the murder.”